High School Football: Methacton coasts past Pottstown

POTTSTOWN — Imagine how it would have been if Hurricane Sandy had stuck around longer than it did.

Among the numerous impacts the much-hyped “Frankenstorm” had was a disruption of local high school sports teams practice regimens. Brandon Bossard admitted as much Saturday, all the while basking in the joyous atmosphere of Methacton’s 45-27 win over Pottstown at Grigg Memorial Field.

Rebounding from an initial touchdown the Trojans scored in the first four minutes of this Pioneer Athletic Conference matinee, the Warriors chalked up 28 unanswered points on four successive first-half possessions. With that lead in hand, the visitors matched their hosts’ scoring drives down the stretch for a satisfactory closeout to their league campaign.

And that was after Methacton — like practically every other sports program in the region, thanks to Sandy — had to compress a week’s work of practice action into three days’ preparation time. But it seemed no worse the wear for the scrambled schedule.

“The team responded well,” the Warriors’ senior quarterback said against the backdrop of a chilly, darkening Grigg gridiron. “We came to practice fired up. After being stranded in the house for two days, we had a lot of energy to burn.”

Bossard expended a big portion of his own energy reserves steering a heady passing game that covered 192 yards on 10-for-16 aerial accuracy. While throwing for one touchdown on the afternoon, he rushed for two more in a ground game that amassed 260 yards in large part through the efforts of Michael Cassidy and Dillen White.

“The play action was there,” he said. “Pottstown came at us aggressively, which opened the passing game for us. The option was there on offense, and our offensive line did a great job.”

“We weren’t able to start practices until Wednesday,” Methacton head coach Paul LePre added. “I liked the way we came out, though we struggled at the start.”

Pottstown (3-5, 4-6) struck first after stopping its guests on downs their first possession from the opening kickoff. Quarterback Sage Reinhart and running back Denzel Harvey shouldered the load, with Harvey circling his left end for a 13-yard score at the 8:33 mark.

But Methacton’s scoring spate effected a reversal of the momentum, and the Trojans’ hopes for a winning outcome in their Senior/Parent Recognition game. While Monroe Hampton added a pair of second-half TDs, and Reinhart pushed across another in the final minute, Pottstown was unable to reduce the deficit any more than the 15-point spread following Hampton’s two-yard burst off left tackle three minutes into the third quarter.

“Methacton beat us,” was head coach Brett Myers’ postgame assessment. “We came out ready to play, but we didn’t sustain it.”

Hampton got the hometown crowd excited on special teams, following a 24-yard field goal from the Warriors’ Jose Holland inside the fourth quarter. Taking Holland’s subsequent kickoff at his four, the senior speedster outran the Methacton coverage to the end zone, reducing its lead to 38-20.

“He does a nice job,” Myers said of Hampton, who had another 21 yards on nine runs from scrimmage. “There was an opening in the crease and he saw it. When the opportunity is there, Monroe will take it.”

NOTES: Myers confirmed Pottstown’s non-league game with Great Valley, scheduled for next Friday on the Patriots’ home turf, will go on as planned.